Directorial Final- Consent

Part 1


Setting
2015, London. It's important to my direction that this play take place pre the #metoo movement. All of the events of the play are very real and common to everyday life, but it's best that they are viewed under the lens of what it was like dealing with domestic abuse, and rape before it was talked about openly and with same sense of complete injustice we now see it with.

Main Focus
In questions of consent, despite the deeply personal nature of these attacks the problems are always and inevitably dragged out in a public spectacle before a court, judge and jury of your peers to determine what took place and the truths behind questions of character and karma. The whole world is a court room, and often there is no justice in the end, because with matters of consent the only way to truly understand is to experience it yourself.


Key Character Dynamics
Rachel and Jake dynamic, Kitty and Edward dynamic, Tim and Zara, Edward and Tim, Kitty and Tim, Edward and Jake, Gayle.


Staging 
Contemporary costumes, minor changes between characters to demonstrate subtle aspects of their personalities and the role they are playing.



Edward 

The unfeeling barrister, he represents the system he represents the logical, often unfair, rulings of society. Edward wears mainly suits, perfectly pressed and put together, very business appropriate, except during dinner parties when he is in business casual, no jacket, no tie, shirt untucked.



Kitty 

Empathetic, she's vengeance, she's raw emotion, she's love and hate and all of the ways humans want to act illogically. She dresses expressively and creatively, lots of colors, lots of variation, more casual than Edward, Tim and Rachel.



Rachel 

She sides with Edward, and also represents the system. She should be a bit closed off in appearance, not a lot of color/prints. Business to business casual clothes always.



Jake 

The jerk, he is the guy who has too much love to contain to one woman, but he also acknowledges rape when he hears it without needing a court case to prove it like Rachel does. He should be much more casual and expressive in clothing choices, aligned more with the kinds of clothes Kitty wears.



Zara 

Looking for a mate so she can hurry up and have kids, and she's an actress. She should dress trendy and a bit more provocatively than the others.



Tim 

Still single and a bit desperate, he is also the anti-Edward. He is a barrister as well, and he should dress in suits as well, but a bit more awkward than Edward and Jake, this can be seen through his ties, or his prints, or through slightly ill-fitted clothing.



Gayle

The victim of rape as well as an unjust law system. She is also a bit lower class. She should wear casual loose fitting clothes, bland colors and a bit conservative to show the trauma that she has endured, the loss of her agency, and the unfairness inflicted on her that she must now walk in fear of it all happening again by the same man or someone else still.

The sets and props should be what is described in the script. Ed and Kitty's home in particular is the most important set in the play it needs to be able to evolve from just moved in and bare, to lived in and homey, and back to bare when they prepare to move out. Their home is symbolic of their marriage and should show that there is a history, a comfort, a seeming perfect domestic bliss, but has its cracks and dark areas as well, and that as easily as they unpack their life together it can just as easily be torn apart and boxed up again. The court room set, and lawyer's office sets, as well as the scene 6 are described in further detail under the notes for those respective scenes. Sound effects should be used when trying to show two different scenes in one set, like act 1 scene 5 with Jake and Rachel.

Key Moments
Gayle confronts Edward about the trial -Act 1 Scene 9

• Scene 9:  This scene should be extremely uncomfortable, forced, stressed, miserable all around except for in Tim and Zara who put on fake smiles, and pretend all is well because that's how they need things to be. Rachel clearly holds a great deal of resentment toward Jake and her costuming should be even more rigid, even darker, and even more high neck than her previous ones to show a kind of disguise or alternative persona she has taken on in order to stay in a marriage that has lost trust. Jake acts very casual and like he always has, oblivious to the fact that his marriage is broken and being held together with tape. Kitty and Edward are tense but trying to hide it. Eventually their issues come bubbling up to the surface, and it should be dramatic. It intensifies when Gayle comes walking in, the mood should instantly alter, to include this reality shock. For the entirety of the play up until this point, the Gayle plot has been kept separate from the rest of their personal lives, but now it's literally busted through the door, and they are forced to confront her pain. The lighting should change to be colder, light music playing in the background during the beginning of the scene should be stopped. Gayle is the harbinger of the horror of the reality of the jokes they make and the system they uphold, and in confronting her they are confronting that darkness, the fact that real women are actually getting raped and the men are getting off and this rampant abuse is not ending by covering it up and moving on with their happy dinner parties. From this point onward in the play the lighting won't change back to the warm lightness it had before.

Kitty and Edward big confrontation -Act 2 Scene 1 

• Act 2 scene 1: Immediately off of the heels of Gayle's major confrontation , this is a big moment for Kitty and Edward that will affect the course of the rest of the play. Kitty's feelings about empathy come to a head in her payback to Edward and his reaction is chilling coming after Gayle's impassioned speech in the previous scene. In this scene Kitty and Edward should be moving constantly as they speak, circling the room in a way, so that at all times one of them has their back to the audience while the other is looking forward to the audience in order to visually represent each sides of their story, each person's feelings at a time, and also to show that they are no longer on the same side.

Gayle's ghost in act 2 scene 6 final moment

• Scene 6:  There should be a kind of soft spoken air between Kitty and Edward here where they are not longer at war with each other, even finding some kind of amicableness, but they will never again be able to be what they once were.
• Big questions about Gayle's ghost and the future of Kitty and Edward are left unclear and up to audience interpretation. If my direction has worked out the way I intended, the ending feeling will be that the ghost of Gayle is more of a warning not to let what happened to her due to a miscarriage of justice happen again, and a lingering reminder that even though Edward is sorry, and he has grown and changed since the beginning of the play what happened between them cannot be apologized away, and it cannot be rubbed out because that would be easier. Gayle in this sense represents all sexual crimes and the invisible wounds left on their victims.

Less Key but significant moments
Discussing the elements of a Greek tragedy -Act 1 Scene 3 

• Scene 3: This discussion is integral because it is a mirror, their language and analysis of Greek tragedy as a genre is not dissimilar to the narrative surrounding rape cases and domestic violence, ("The golden rule for any Greek play is, an unbonked woman goes bonkers"). I think there should be a large mirror on stage reflecting the cast members on stage as a kind of literal representation of how their conversation reflects the themes of the play. Other points that are important is the attempted set up of Tim and Zara as well as Jake's revelation and his very unworried reaction to his wife's feelings. This is  representative of men looking at women as easily suggestible and child-like who fly off the handle for no reason and just need to calm down. His insinuations that she's being crazy or unreasonable at best, and will calm down and be rational later is important, because it is an example of the problematic views about male and female personality and roles in relationships that adds to rape culture. Note also the "she says no but means yes line" this scene is full of problematic male/female relationship dynamics. Also a jovial atmosphere, these comments should fly off the cuff and come off as funny rather than offensive or ridiculous to show society's unmoved reactions to the same thoughts occurring in much darker contexts.

Discussing the elements of arguing a case in a trial -Act 1 Scene 6 

• Scene 6: This scene is great for showing the dynamic of what’s happening on the court room stage. Tim and Edward lay out for Zara exactly how trials are nothing more than deception, manipulation, and stage tricks. It exposes the legal system for exactly how broken and unjust it is, setting up for the Gayle confrontation scene later. It's an indictment of the justice system for not truly delivering justice at all but instead being a theatrical act of lies and manipulations. This scene is also the first indication to the audience about the stressed dynamic between Tim and Edward, Tim's jealousy and pettiness toward Edward, and Edward's resentment and feelings of superiority toward Tim. The three of them should be seated at a table, with Tim and Edward on opposite sides and Zara between them on the end facing the audience.  The dichotomy between the two should be apparent, Ed is the defense while Tim is the prosecution, but they are warring in many more ways than in the courtroom. When the mood between the two shifts (when Zara leaves to take a call), the lighting should as well to demonstrate that they are no longer talking in the theoretical. The final lines of dialogue between Ed and Zara should be a bit sexually charged as well, because even though nothing comes of it is an important foreshadow and later example of the kind of problems Kitty and Ed have with their marriage.

Discussing the importance of empathy -Act 1 Scene 8 

• Scene 8: This scene depicts the core problems with Kitty and Edward's marriage and why it will inevitably break apart. Kitty's line about empathy is crucial to the story and should echo a bit after the scene ends and goes dark. The lighting is not as warm and light as it was in the first scene, they are fully unpacked now, but the house doesn't seem like a home as much as a stage. The couches are in the same place as always, and the other parts of the room seem to have been decorated as they should be not as they are: useless magazines sprawled across and unusable coffee table, shiny pictures in frames adorn a mantle piece, there are blankets for the couch neatly folded and organized together off to the side rather than strewn on some piece of furniture and the furniture is covered in decorative pillows arranged specifically, but look as though they have never been used or like the couch has been sat on in a while. Perfect flowers in a vase at one side table, and so on.

Ed, Jake and Rachel argue over what is rape -starts Act 2 Scene 2  -continues in Act 2 Scene 4

• Scene 2: Another crucial scene, the discussion that happens here about whether or not Edward raped Kitty should be similar to the courtroom scene when deciding if Mr. Taylor raped Gayle earlier. It should again represent that in these matters of consent, we are all to be scrutinized at trial before a bunch of people who will never be able to understand it because they haven't experienced it. Edward's refusal to admit his offense should also be emphasized as a common occurrence among attackers.
• Scene 4: This scene mimics the earlier scene with Jake and Rachel, but without the light wall this time separating the two sides. Kitty and Edward go at it with unfiltered rage and emotion, and it should be apparent that they are both consumed by the trauma they have inflicted on each other. Edward is a complete 360 degree turn from the composed man he was in the beginning, and is now a mess of emotion. This scene should be chaos, pain, and uncertainty about how there can possibly be a future to go into from this point they are all at now. This also mimics many of the feelings rape victims have and once again emphasizes the message about empathy and needing to experience something to know it, and know how it feels.

Gayle's Role

The handling of the Gayle (Laura) B plot, and trying to center her story within the main message of the play as symbolic of rape culture, and the big problems with society's view and handling of legal consequences in sex crimes, while also keeping her story somewhat in the background to be something of an echo coming out of the domestic disputes between the main six characters. I think the best way to go about this is with subtle lighting changes and staging choices whenever she is in a scene to separate her as "other" in the plot, but also showing how her story is indicative of the problems presented by the other character's dialogue and actions.



Part 2- Consent by Nina Raine performed at The Harold Pinter Theatre

Main Focus

One big aspect of this director's vision is best expressed through one of Tim's lines in Act 1 Scene 3 when explaining a classic Greek play, "Two opposing characters holding two relative but mutually destructive truths." If you read this scene to be indicative of rape culture and the dialogue surrounding it, then this line reads less like an explanation of Greek tragedies, but of tragedies of a different kind. A man and woman in a rape case do in a sense have two mutually destructive truths because a man's truth in the case is often that the woman is a liar, mentally unstable, a regretful whore, or something worse along the same lines which destroys the woman, while her truth is that the man is a rapist which destroys him.

This director focused much of the play less on the need for empathy to understand crimes like rape and domestic abuse, and more on the question of multiple differing, but also possibly equally honest, truths coming out of the same event. The arguments between Kitty and Edward seemed to get most heated in this production  when arguing over which of their truths was the ultimate truth and whether that makes the other person a liar. The same dynamic was apparent in the arguments between Jake and Rachel, as well as when Gayle confronted the group in Act 1 Scene 9 about how they let her down and condemned her in court to living without justice without even knowing her full truth or telling the jury either.

Character 

The largest difference from this director's interpretation from my own was everything surrounding Gayle's portrayal. To begin with, Gayle was not a main focus of the story in this version in comparison with the stories surrounding other characters, and therefore a lot of decisions in portraying her were different. The actress, the blocking, the costuming, and the staging of her scenes all made her appear much more uneducated, and more rushed generally. She didn't seem as visually hurt or anxious as I imagined her, and, in the courtroom scene, she seemed almost more like she was in fact merely a witness as Tim had called her, instead of the victim. Her delivery was perfectly fine, but the trauma and the complete pain that's palpable in the script wasn't as present. She appeared more flustered and uneducated than that she was simply overwhelmed with emotion.  And while the big Christmas scene was very emotional, and a big moment for the character, it somehow didn't strike the same gut-wrenching tone that is extremely apparent while reading the script and  should be more so when viewing it on stage. She was emotional and the scene was raw, but the acting specifically did not measure up to the strength in the dialogue. The director also omitted Gayle's presence (as a ghost) at the beginning of the first scene and the end of the last scene of the play, which is also the performance's largest deviation from the script when everything else adheres strictly to it. 

The courtroom scene especially was an indication of how her role was expressed in the play very strangely. Her costume in that scene has her wearing bright pink when she is supposedly going through a lot of grief and stress. A character who is currently undergoing therapy from a rape fifteen years ago, and who is now in post trauma from a second raping should not be wearing something so vibrant, outgoing and cheerful to the court proceedings. And she also didn't seem as upset about the rape during the courtroom scene than she did upset about being questioned at all. The writing of the script is very strong, but leaves room for her to come off very differently in different interpretations and in this one she appeared less fazed than it seemed someone would be who had been raped so brutally and horribly that she was still in therapy for it fifteen years later. And then to be raped again on the night of the funeral of the sister who had been raped alongside her the first time would be extremely upsetting and traumatizing and horrifying for anyone, and that didn't come across very apparently from her. 

It's hard to say with complete resolve that certain aspects of a play are more or less effective, because they both serve ideally to fulfil different visions for the performance. However, Gayle's portrayal in this production was arguably ineffective for any accurate interpretation of the play. Her delivery and presence should have been represented differently to fully show the trauma of real life rape cases better, and because regardless of the interpretation, Gayle's story is an extremely important part of the play as a whole so to represent her character ineffectively affects the entire message of the play. 

Aside from Gayle, many of the characters didn’t always seem to play up the raw pain and hurt they were feeling as much as they seemed to want to play up the comedy, which was very humorous and lent itself well, but it seemed like a strange decision to have it come first above the drama in such an emotional and very present play. Ed, for instance, when he went to Jake and Rachel after his confrontation with Kitty played the scene purposefully comically. He played it painfully as well, but the comedy overshadowed the pain and it felt like that should not have been the focus of the scene when the character is trying to express his emotions and make it apparent to everyone, and Kitty, that he is in genuine pain from her actions.

They all also seemed to often lose some words in their screaming or crying, which was unfortunate since the dialogue is so rich, and important. It might be that there was no way around that problem and still keep the crying and screaming in the scenes, but losing certain lines definitely loses some of the power of a scene.

Kitty's portrayal was in ways very much like my own interpretation and at times deviated from it, but always seemed to make sense with an alternate, but still accurate and effective, view of her character. She appeared a bit more submissive and meek in the first few scenes of the first act. It isn't until Act 1 Scene 8 that she shows her passion and fighting spirit with Ed when they argue over Jake and Rachel, and empathy. While I imagined her to be very empowered and prepared to fight for her beliefs from scene 1. This productions portrayal of her as more demure in the beginning, but strong and loud when she feels she needs to be adds a more three dimensional view to the character. The warm up to her confrontation with Ed also makes the scene all the more jarring when it happens immediately after her scene with Tim at his house when she is still very soft, and talking about how she and Ed don't actually get along perfectly but just usually agree on everything. It creates a layer of apprehension and it works very well with Ed's genial spirit in the first half as well. 

The Zara portrayal also showed much more about the character in this interpretation. Allowing her to be more zany, and awkward explains much more about the character than having her be more cool and mellow like in my interpretation. Her performance in this show answers questions like why she is still single, and why she might have actually gotten along well with Tim. It also adds to the character attributes like her being an actress, and panicking about needing kids right away, and it provides multiple female perspectives, and personalities and expresses more how she is different from Kitty and Rachel in those aspects as well as in her personal situation regarding motherhood as opposed to theirs. 

The portrayal of Jake and Rachel in this production were very much as I had imagined them in my interpretation. The characters looked, sounded, and acted very nearly exactly how I wrote them to in my notes in part 1. They are important characters to work as motivating forces for much of the action that starts everything between Kitty and Ed, and also as unofficial counsellors later on, but they are also supporting characters with less textual depth. 

Staging

The setting in this production was unclear, and never even alluded to, leaving the play to exist somewhere outside of time and place allowing it to operate universally as more of an allegory or fable than a specific story of specific people rooted in a certain context.

The sets were much more sparse, Ed and Kitty's house pretty much just involved the two couches and a kitchen table, while Jake and Rachel's was just their kid's room set, The one scene involving Tim's house was a singular couch, and the other scenes had either nothing like the courtroom or were just a chair or two as with the Laura scene, the first Gayle scene, the Zara/Tim/Ed scene, and the Zara/Kitty, Tim/Ed scene. The sets were largely due to making use of the playhouse's stage which had mechanisms in the floor that lowered and raised old and new sets in between scenes. There was also no curtain at any point so the actors were seen in character walking in and out of scenes/sets. The lighting was limited to lowering and raising lights for sets, and spotlights on characters, no major effects, and there were no sound effects except for the sounds of ringing telephones. 

Some of the staging choices also seemed more practical than artistic. Particularly in the court scene which showed only Gayle and Edward in a spotlight, and while it was certainly isolating for Gayle, it didn’t fully represent the way the court system was stacked against her or show her looking at the audience very much. Also in the Jake/Rachel's scene where they are together on stage but meant to be apart in different scenes/places/times, the choice to have Jake, Rachel, Edward and Kitty all walking amongst each other rather than creating a clear divide didn't make it very apparent that they were actually not supposed to be interacting together but rather with Ed and Kitty separately and simultaneously.

The encounter between Tim and Ed in the Zara/Tim/Ed scene, however, worked out really well on stage.  The scene featured a minimal set of just three chairs and a backlit "SKCUBR." The  blocking in the final moments especially between Tim and Ed facing off were the highlights of the scene though. The script offers little help in imagining the scene, and the dialogue could appear very awkward, but the acting brought out everything about Tim and Edward's characters that this scene was meant to show.

Overall, while the production lives up to the script more or less, it lacks a few defining features needed for it do justice to the storyline. While this director's choices framed the plot to answer very interesting questions brought up about the sometimes differences between truth and honesty, the play discusses so much more than that which was lost because of the choice to put the entire spotlight on other issues.